Corruption effecting my family

[seajae]

My wife manages the local office of a Bangkok business, it is all above board but the head of a local govt agency is now harrasing her to pay quite a large amount of money to him. They already have to pay 1.5% of their monthly sales to him(if they dont they cannot sell anything, cant explain or I give it away)and I regularly go with her as she has to take 100,000 baht plus in cash to him. He is now asking for 10% and my wife came home in tears last night because this arsehol_e verbally abused her and threatened her. She cannot go to the police as they are just as bad, bugger, cant say too much or I will give it away so I cant really state who the other people involved are but they are very high up. The company head office is talking to the govt dept in Bangkok trying to get this person moved so it can stop but they are not having much luck. If this was Australia I would have no hesitation in what I would do but here I dont have the contacts. I really need some help to work out what to do about it, the company cant afford to pay 10% and shouldnt have to, suggestions would be appreciated, there is only one thing I can think of and that just isnt the right solution, please pm me with genuine info if anyone knows what to do/who to contact. Thanks

I realize this is a hairy subject to raise here but I really dont know anyone I can contact about it. I can protect ny wife at home but not when she is at work.

Edited December 19, 2013 by seajae

[steelepulse]

In situations like this, you need to know someone bigger, higher up with more influence than this guys backers. He who has the biggest most powerful backer wins.

Edited December 19, 2013 by steelepulse

[seajae]

Easy answer and only costs 25k.

Thaksin knew how to solve the 'undesirable' problem.

it was the first thing I thought of but my wife would not accept it happening, cant go any higher locally as they are already on his side. I am trying to just go along normally but this is starting to get to me as well as I dont want anything to happen to my wife, his threats are serious. If I cant get any ideas on a legal way to do it then I will be left with a wrong one and I dont want that.

[Sceptict11]

Easy answer and only costs 25k.

Thaksin knew how to solve the 'undesirable' problem.

it was the first thing I thought of but my wife would not accept it happening, cant go any higher locally as they are already on his side. I am trying to just go along normally but this is starting to get to me as well as I dont want anything to happen to my wife, his threats are serious. If I cant get any ideas on a legal way to do it then I will be left with a wrong one and I dont want that.

It is a "problem" for the Company !

Your wife presumably is an employee and therefor keeps the "company " informed.

She should stop being concerned, it is not her problem.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Sceptict11

[CharlieH]

Have you thought about going to see him? Both of you go and have a chat, explain what the problem is, be really nice and ask for his guidance and help, might go against the grain but try the psychological tack first, put him in the decision seat etc his ego may win for you.

If it doesnt, you tried the right thing, then you have to consider alternatives, but that ball can bounce both ways so you need to be quick and decisive, dont talk about it and draw it out so he may hear of it, just get it done.

Edited December 19, 2013 by CharlieH

[namdocmai]

There is a huge office building in BKK for anti-corruption. I have no idea what they do there but the size of it makes me think that loads of people must work there.

This is Thailand though. The only thing her company can do is pay and raise their prices because this guy will probably also do it to her competitors in business.

Around me live loads of Thai with simple government-functions that do not represent for the size of their houses or cars.......

[thailiketoo]

There is more than one police agency in Bangkok. Why I had a chum who payed 4 of em.

Keep going till you find one you like

[Gsxrnz]

I feel sorry for anybody in the situation you find yourself in. It's THE most despicable thing about Thailand. But your wife is certainly in the big swimming pool as compared to the simple 200B to the BIB for fictitious driving offences.

It is so rife that other than the Ant-Corruption squad, there is nowhere for you to go, and quite frankly, the chances of them being anywhere near squeaky clean are extremely remote.

It seems that the 10% represents a million baht? Correct? That's serious money, so there's much at risk. I'd suggest your wife leave it in the hands of the owners of the business, it's not really her problem. If she can get out of the loop regarding delivering the money, that would be to her advantage.

And even if you find somebody with bigger guns, the chances are that they will solve the problem by only taking 3 or 5% off the business instead of 10%. They won't get involved for no recompense. From what I understand there is a hierarchy/chain of command in these things, and also some rivalry both within organisations and amongst organisations.

Get her out of the loop, maybe get her out of her employment. You can't win the battle for her employer but you can extricate her from the situation.

[jpinx]

Maybe it's time to consider whether the job is worth the salary ?

[thailiketoo]

[96tehtarp]

"My wife manages the local office of a Bangkok business, it is all above board but the head of a local govt agency is now harrasing her to pay quite a large amount of money to him. They already have to pay 1.5% of their monthly sales to him(if they dont they cannot sell anything, cant explain or I give it away)and I regularly go with her as she has to take 100,000 baht plus in cash to him."

You must feel very uncomfortable about this situation your wife is in.

Stay out of it. The reason I say that is because I don't trust your wife.

Of course I don't know anything about your wife so please don't be offended. The situation you described has all the warning bells and red flags going berserk. Your wife needs to urgently refer the matter to her head office in Bangkok and pass it on to them to make a decision and handle the situation. She needs to "pass the buck". That's the Thai way. Lying is also the Thai way. A concerned farang husband getting involved in a situation like this is definitely not the Thai way, neither is "The buck stops here"!

The Thai way, as much as it might disgust you, would be to have this guy let you two borrow his villa in Samui for a couple of weeks, so as to keep you all smiles. The land of smiles is the Thai way. Forcing confrontations.... definitely not the Thai way. Neither is it the Thai way to verbally abuse your wife, and that makes it all the more ugly.

If you just relax and stay out of it you'll live to see somebody else go after this guy and set him up, report him, usurp him etc. Let somebody else do it. Then you can smile.

I'm sorry I said I didn't trust your wife. That was just me giving you my perspective and has absolutely no reflection on your wife.

Good luck.

Edited December 19, 2013 by 96tehtarp

[David48]

What is the officers power to disrupt the business if she doesn't comply with the increased demand.

You know, if she gives the whole 10% ... it will never stop there ... maybe negotiate down to 2 1/2% ... easy to say of course ... but Thai respect a good negotiator.

[DLock]

I don't get your concern.

It's not your wife's business, so it's not her problem.

It's certainly not your problem, but you are trying to make it so.

Let the Thai business owner handle it and avoid the headache and stress.

If the business shuts down, the local Govt guy gets nothing.

Much more to this story yet to be told.

[krisb]

Let the Thais sort it out mate.

[DiamondKing]

Set him up with hidden cameras and get it all on tape

[impulse]

My wife manages the local office of a Bangkok business.

Your first sentence could be your first clue.

Your wife has been paying some percentage of her employer's gross receipts to this "entity". She's either doing it with the knowledge of the BKK home office, without their knowledge, or something else is going on. I'd start there.

If this is a straight-up payola deal with consent of the BKK office, it's not your (or her) problem. It's a problem for the BKK home office.

If it's not, you need to ferret out the whole story before heading off to save the day. The problem may be a little different than it's been presented.

Edited December 19, 2013 by impulse

[seajae]

Bangkok is several hundred kilometeres away, my wife is the local rep of the business and therefore the running of the company locally falls on her. If I could go into finer details here it would help but I cant, what I want(and my wife too) is for the head office to take over all payments so my wife is no longer responsible for them. I realize this is how thais do business but when it concerns the woman I love then it becomes my business, thanks for the answers, I will now see where we go from here but I will not back off if this person does not back away from threatening my wife.

[h90]

she must speak with the head office. They must take care of it.

If not, she must invoice these expenses to them. Which is possible in Thailand

Called something like "entertainment costs".

Case finish...

[transam]

Hopefully this type of guy will end up eating fish heads when LOS gets it's head in gear..............

[krisb]

If it's that that bad, time to get a new job. Give that corrupt a hole nothing more. If it was my wife coming home in tears regularly it's what probably would happen. Then you don't specify the line of work either....

[Beetlejuice]

Bangkok is several hundred kilometeres away, my wife is the local rep of the business and therefore the running of the company locally falls on her. If I could go into finer details here it would help but I cant, what I want(and my wife too) is for the head office to take over all payments so my wife is no longer responsible for them. I realize this is how thais do business but when it concerns the woman I love then it becomes my business, thanks for the answers, I will now see where we go from here but I will not back off if this person does not back away from threatening my wife.

Is this company something like an Amway or for the selling of products or services, perhaps even property speculators, earnings based on commission of sales? Is this company based on territory where they pay others to keep others off their turf? Certainly sounds like there are some undesirable elements involved here.

If as you claim your wife`s company is all above board and there are proper audited accounts and tax returns filed each year, then why is she paying someone working in a Government office tea money so she can continue doing a legitimate job or to be a part of a legitimate company? If all is proper and correct, than sorry, no way Hosay, not even in Thailand unless there is something shady going on and the so-called company have reasons for not wanting to fight this extortion.

Like the movie title: What`s it all about Alfie?

[amykat]

Dear Seajae,

I think that many foreign partners, get way too caught up in their "partner's or family of partner" problems. We seem to think we know the better way, the best way, etc. We probably do know it. But they do not know it, don't really listen to our advice, don't want to learn anything, they only "listen to, and WANT" our money, to solve the 16,000 problems they come to us with, which can all go away, with a payment from us!

I think you haven't been with your lady for a very long time? And you seem to be having a lot? of problems that are coming up ...mostly re money ...is that right?

You need to think that your wonderful wife, MIGHT be making up total bullshit stories, wanting your help, but not in the way you think. What she wants is money, not your advice. Or she might have a problem and just hope that you will pay it to go away, rather than her working a normal way to make it go away.

I think you need to go into massive CAUTION mode for a while ...and really be looking for a wife who might be mostly scamming you. When you start to get lots of problems in Thailand, and you are a normal, conservative person ...like I think you are, you need to see those around you as causing all the stress and bullshit and really, get a good LOOK at reality.

If that isn't the case, or you are not sure yet, keep looking with an open mind. But do NOT get involved in her business!! Just ignore totally. She is an adult person, living in her own country, can speak and read the language, has a lifetime of friends, connections, family, to rely on, learn from, etc.

You are a nice guy, with great intentions, but you are NOT a white knight and you are not needed for her and her family to understand Thailand, their lives here, their business here ...they should be taking you by the hand and teaching you things, but that doesn't normally happen here does it? Why would that be?

[sirineou]

Easy answer and only costs 25k.

Thaksin knew how to solve the 'undesirable' problem.

it was the first thing I thought of but my wife would not accept it happening, cant go any higher locally as they are already on his side. I am trying to just go along normally but this is starting to get to me as well as I dont want anything to happen to my wife, his threats are serious. If I cant get any ideas on a legal way to do it then I will be left with a wrong one and I dont want that.

It is a "problem" for the Company !

Your wife presumably is an employee and therefor keeps the "company " informed.

She should stop being concerned, it is not her problem.

The above is the best answer, I stopped reading this thread after this reply

Your wife as an employee needs to kick this upstairs, if the principles of this company are happy with the "arrangement" your wife should not interfere.To them this might be just an other cost of doing business.

[Rooo]

Off topic posts & responses deleted.

[GrantSmith]

seajae, in what locale are we talking? You've obviously posted in the General forum to maintain a degree of anonymity unfortunately it doesn't assist as you well know we (TVF members) are spread all over.

Whilst there is some sound advice here to stay out of it, there's also the possibility of getting involved without getting involved and being the pesky farang interloper making the situation worse.

Feel free to flick me a PM if the above's too sensitive to openly discuss.

[Huayrat]

Just go and knock him out.. Your wife will find another Job and maybe if you hit him hard enough then it might stop him doing it again..

[Beetlejuice]

According to another thread started by the OP, he had another business dealing agricultural products on some rented land that was not registered and he came unstuck with that project also.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/663635-trust-not-in-thailand/

Anyone, even in Thailand if running a legitimate business has no need to pay off a corrupt official in order to trade, and judging by all the caution and mystery surrounding this story, than it appears all is not above board as the OP has claimed and there is a lot more to this than the OP is letting on.

Many farangs plonk themselves in Thailand unable to hack it here financially and end up wheeling, dealing and having to do some sorts of business without going via the official channels of starting a business to pay their way and of course for many the whole deal goes pear shaped and they end up as losers losing big time.

My advice to the OP is, that if his wife’s so-called business is all above board, then take the matter up further with the company head office, the Government department where this official works or push the police harder to take up the case. If it is not all above board and squeaky-clean then get out of this the best you can and walk away while the goings good.

If the OP decides to take matters into his own hands, than he does so at his own risk and discretion, then it`s good luck and may the best man win.

[samran]

Something isn't legit with the business, otherwise the official wouldn't have a leg to stand on with the extortion.

[Jasun]

Does it directly affect your wife's income? If not, and head office is ok with the transaction, you could try and negotiate with the official, there might be something in it for you.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[NeverSure]

I don't trust the wife, sorry.

Have you actually witnessed this guy verbally abuse your wife, or are you just told that he does?

It's hard for me to understand how you could actually know (witness) that this guy verbally abuses your wife, and do nothing more than complain on an anonymous forum. Not many guys would just stand there if someone was abusing their wives.

I think you need to scratch your head a bit more about this, and be a bit more skeptical.